I've wiped the file? .... I've wiped all the files? .... I've wiped the INTERNET? I don't even have [20 Aug 2008|02:31pm] officialgaiman http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/08/ive-wiped-file-ive-wiped-all-files-ive.html posted by Dan Guy The official feed now includes the byline at the top, as requested by several people using feed readers that don't display the author properly. For those who, like me, had trouble making out the words, here are the lyrics to "I Google You", posted by Mr. G in the comment thread to a blog post. The whole discussion there is interesting. Many people wrote in to offer suggestions for a collective noun for Johns, most of them thinking along similar lines. Among the most intuitive were: a flushing, a trick, and a gospel. Interesting search queries by which people arrived at neilgaiman.com over the past month: [oops nudity] - 51 hits, [community suffering] - 27, and [good omens slash] - 6. And now many more people will be ending up here for each of those. Lastly, let's go to the mailbag! From: John Lorentz Subject: Sometimes Real Life Is Too Strange Neil, A few nights ago, some crooks took advantage of some gullible people here in Portland by posing as Wells Fargo security guards and met people coming to make use of the night deposit slot at a local bank. "The night deposit slot here is out of order. But if you'll put your deposit in this bag, we'll deliver it to another branch in the morning." On the news tonight, our local NBC affiliate (KGW) pointed out that this is exactly like a scheme described in AMERICAN GODS, giving the page number in the trade edition of the book and holding that page up to the camera. (They don't have the video up of the version of the story with the reference to your book--if they post it, I'll send you the link for when you finally return to good Internet service.) So if there's a sudden surge in sales of American Gods here in Portland, that's probably why.:) John This is actually not the first time such news was reported here. Labels:  completely abandons the idea of writing lots of labels and goes to bed instead 16 comments|post comment

Finally, someone's making sense [21 Aug 2008|09:24am] _leareth Copyright owners have to consider 'fair use' before sending take down (cease and desist) notices. It's the decision about the 26 seconds of dancing toddler to Prince music. Strike one up for users' rights online. 1 comment|post comment

the passion of the semicolon [20 Aug 2008|03:04pm] tightropegirl Eons have passed since I last blogged. Entire generations of bloggers have been born, written, posted pictures of their cats, and died since I came before you. (Blogging generations are very short, after all, like blogging time -- things that happened six months ago feel two years past at least, and it's all a bit like that Dr. Who episode where warriors lived and died in days.) From time to time I've thought, "I should put that into an essay for my journal" -- that being thoughts about fan fiction, the choices of British television vs. American, how series get chosen and made (so not how you think), graphic novels I'd like to write, women directors in the 1920s, what C.S. Lewis, Robert Heinlein, and Lawrence Durrell have in common, the mistakes writers trying television for the first time most often make, the gulf between the story the writer is telling and the story the audience takes from it, auditions, Los Angeles geography, and my new strategy for how I'm going to store the many books in my house. And a few hundred other things. But all those topics seem to require thought and attention to tackle properly, and I'm forever shoving them away to get through the deadlines of the day. So to clear my blogging palate, I've decided to post something short and pointless. I've decided to share with you my love for semicolons. Not everyone shares this love (though C.S. Lewis did and so did Jane Austen). There was a time in our history when semicolons were abundant, like passenger pigeons, and people complained there were too many of them. Writers reached for semicolons as though reaching for the doorknob. According to Paul Collins: When the Times of London reported in 1837 on two University of Paris law profs dueling with swords, the dispute wasn't over the fine points of the Napoleonic Code. It was over the point-virgule: the semicolon. "The one who contended that the passage in question ought to be concluded by a semicolon was wounded in the arm," noted the Times. "His adversary maintained that it should be a colon." That's when manly men were unafraid of lace and snuffboxes. Errol Flynn, one feels sure, would know what a semicolon was and how to deploy it with panache. Today, sadly, many disdain the semicolon, as architects of the 1950s disdained ornament and the decorative pilasters of history. What does the semicolon do, they ask, that cannot be done with the swift intervention of a period? The period, which like a quick, clean bullet to the heart, clearly demarcates the end of a thought. Semicolons, on the other hand, allow sentences to run on disgracefully, which makes them, well... girly. Some avoid the semicolon because they have not yet built up a relationship with it. Others fear ridicule from semicolon-haters. Still others will gingerly accept it in descriptive text, but when it comes to dialogue -- well, as one writer told me, "No one has ever spoken in semicolons." I would only say, "Perhaps you have not heard them. Perhaps the semicolon is, for you, like a dog whistle. But I myself have shamelessly spoken in semicolons, and I am not alone." To give the anti side its fair due, you'll note I've written everything above without using even one semicolon. It's true; the semicolon is not a load-bearing wall. But its gentle and graceful attachment of one thought to another remains charming to me. The semicolon does not force; it guides with clarity and logic through the thickets of prose -- and in its way it guides the writer, too, for even a semicolon cannot link two entirely disparate points. Coherence comes as a side-effect. By insisting on shorter, quicker sentences with lots of periods, isn't fashion being prized over actual, rigorous thought? Are we not our MTV? And so for me, reading House scripts was like finding a spiritual home. Semicolons piled up on the pages like driftwood after a storm. One day a director brought up the subject, and asked how writers in general felt about them. I explained that some people would become violent if they saw you putting semicolons in dialogue, and then I smiled with wicked pride: "But not here." Because, after all, semicolons are safe at any speed. Let's look at Austen for a moment -- she springs her punctuation choices on you at the very beginning of Pride and Prejudice, when Mrs. Bennet pours out her intel on Netherfield Park to her husband: "Do not you want to know who has taken it?" cried his wife impatiently. "You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it." This was invitation enough. "Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week." That's the semicolon as a series of arched bridges, all very civilized; but even in the rat-tat-tat of modern TV dialogue, where a clump of exposition like the one above would choke in the throat like a hairball -- you try to leap from speaker to speaker much more quickly if you can -- the semicolon works. I declare my prosperous love; reader, I married it. 20 comments|post comment

Children, avert your eyes [20 Aug 2008|04:23pm] brown_betty I was browsing in the book shop and came across an Anne Bishop book titled "The Invisible Ring." Usually when I see a Bishop book, I just snerk to myself and move on, but I couldn't help myself. It is a book named after a cock-ring. I don't see how I was supposed to resist. (Yes, it is gloriously trashy. I don't know why you had to ask.) 8 comments|post comment

[20 Aug 2008|02:21pm] telophase Objective: get the people in the bucket. (addictive Flash game) 4 comments|post comment

On Dragons and Bonds [20 Aug 2008|08:44am] kippurbird Dragons of a Different Scale The relationship between man and dragon is a popular subject in fantasy literature. From Dungeon and Dragons to Anne McCaffery's Dragon Rider's of Pern series, authors have explored what it would be like to have a dragon as a humans' companion. This is a desirable idea, after all, who wouldn't want a fire breathing, flying protector the size of a house? There are two kinds of dragons found in these human/dragon relationships. One where the dragon is merely a horse, not having any intelligence and the other where the dragon is as intelligent, if not more so, than a human. When the dragon is little more than a beast of burden then there is little problem with the human riding and using it as a mode of transportation. However if the dragon is intelligent the question then becomes: Why would an intelligent individual allow themselves to be made slaves and little more than a flying weapon or any other such use that the riders would have them? ( Read more... ) Also, I think I need a dragon icon. 9 comments|post comment

hip hip hooray!! [20 Aug 2008|02:30pm] bgliterary [ mood | gleeful ] Psst!! Go check out my client stephanieburgis's news. Go on, you know you want to! 5 comments|post comment

[20 Aug 2008|12:52pm] telophase The TiVo caught Food Detectives the other day (a kitchen science show starring Ted Allen that's trying to capture that Alton Brown/Bill Nye the Science Guy vibe) in which they did a segment on brain freeze - that short headache you get from quickly eating or drinking something cold. And I noticed that all the actors who were getting it during the filming* were holding the front of their head, which is odd because I always get it on the side of my head - specifically, the right side. So I wondered ... what about others? IS IT CAN BE POLL TIEM NAO PLZ? Poll #1245296 Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All I get brain-freeze on... View Answers ...the left side of my head 3 (6.7%) ...the right side of my head 9 (20.0%) ...the front of my head 29 (64.4%) ...the back of my head 1 (2.2%) ...the top of my head 5 (11.1%) ...more than one place (explain in comments) 5 (11.1%) ...Sanzo 11 (24.4%) Mello's fabulous ass? View Answers Mean: 19.41 Median: 18 Std. Dev 5.66 9 3 (9.4%) 12 2 (6.2%) 15 4 (12.5%) 18 8 (25.0%) 21 6 (18.8%) 24 1 (3.1%) 27 8 (25.0%) * Don't know if they were actually doing the experiments, or re-creating them. 26 comments|post comment

Workspace [20 Aug 2008|10:27am] jennreese Originally published at jennreese.com. You can comment here or there. A few weeks ago, I took some pictures of my office. Not my home office (which is the sofa and my laptop), but my work office. Here’s my desk: Working with other geeks has had some bad side-effects. Notably, the fact that we all have display areas near our desks. While I was looking for some inexpensive geekery to fill mine out, I fell in love with these animated-style Star Wars statues. I had to get my favorite three characters, but I swear, I’m stopping there! And that’s a replica lightsaber in the back, and a Lando Calrissian “Mighty Muggs” on the right, next to the dragon. If you spin to the left, you get a view of most of our warehouse studio: Yes, I’m literally five feet away from the heavy bag!!! (Best. View. Evar.) You can also see our in-house gym (Bowflex, free weights, elliptical machine, etc.), the huge green screen, the ping pong table, and the animation room. Not pictured are the comfy sofas where I watch the Olympics and a few other desks (with their related geekery displayed). I love the warehouse workspace — such a nice change from cubicle living! It creates a wholly different atmosphere from a typical office. Oh, and hey! Our studio finally has a name: VERITAS STUDIOS. (Apparently it’s a Smallville reference, but I’ll have to trust the Superman geeks on that one.) I’ll post our new logo soon. 11 comments|post comment

Just rediscoverd this tune "EMERALD" -by Thin Lizzy [20 Aug 2008|10:52am] tonysalvaggio Damn it rocks! I'm not a big cover tunes guy, but this would be one I wouldn't mind doing. 2 comments|post comment

what's up next [20 Aug 2008|04:26pm] zeichenwut [ mood | creative ] Having a new sketch pad works wonders on the creativity ^__^. Here are the sketches of the next color works I'll do. Of course it's got something to do with Doctor Who and Torchwood *lol*. A chibi version of Gwen Cooper And The Master and Ten. I'll probably to this one first, because it'll be more fun to do. God, I can't wait to see the new DW specials next year and I'm very delighted that the Master will be in at least one of them again *weeee*. post comment

SF MIND MELD - Changes in SF [20 Aug 2008|08:56am] mindyklasky Today, I'm part of the SF MIND MELD, a feature on the SF Signal website where multiple authors of speculative fiction are asked to answer the same question.  Check out a variety of perspectives on the following question:  Science fiction, some say, is all about fostering change. But if you could change any aspect of the science fiction field itself - publishing, mainstream acceptance, fans, or whatever - what would it be and why? Answers are located here:  http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/007071.html Mindy, who finds it incredibly difficult to type the word "mind" without adding a "y" at the end 3 comments|post comment

"The Big Meow" ch. 8 update [20 Aug 2008|01:41pm] dduane Folks, just a quick word: this week has become unusually disrupted due to other work that’s going on in-house, so I’m going to have to postpone the chapter posting until just after the 27th. Unfortunately the chapter’s just not ready to go up yet, the in-house crisis won’t allow any work on any other projects until the weekend — when we’re due to be at the Discworld convention in Birmingham — and even then opportunities for work will be understandably spotty until Wednesday.  (sigh) I’m so sorry about this. Life this month just has not been going to plan. More shortly, however. Tags: Discworld+convention, Birmingham, The+Big+Meow, chapter+eight, craziness 23 comments|post comment

Newb-ness [20 Aug 2008|07:18am] girlfighters [scrago11] So, it's a cold day and I needed to get some answers? I'm 20 years old, 5'0" and about 120 lbs. I'm not overweight and I eat rather healthily, however when I was 16 I suffered something similar to a heart attack. Since then I have been recommended by my doctor to build my cardio. Problem is that I have an EXTREME phobia of gyms. Something about going frightens me. I'v wored for about 6 months and I can manage to work with a few piece of equipment and stay around 15 mins before the panic sets in. So the question is this, if I start classes for (I was thinking Krav Maga or TKD) how in shape would I need to be and any tips on overcoming fear of these places. Plus what is a good price, I don't know many people around that could give me good estimates and being in the Dallas area I have a alot of options. 13 comments|post comment

Chibi Jack [20 Aug 2008|11:02am] zeichenwut [ mood | amused ] [ music | Neil Hannon - Song for Ten ] Hehehe, I finished the color work on Jack ^__^. My laptop let me do it *pads laptop*. Enjoy the chibi goodness of Captain Jack Harkness XD. ( Captain, my Captain... ) 6 comments|post comment

Collecting Stray Thoughts - 2008-08-19 [19 Aug 2008|11:59pm] warren_ellis The closer you look at an original William Blake, the more blisteringly crazy he gets. # (Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) 10 comments|post comment

The Yaoi Hero - The Hero's Journey [19 Aug 2008|11:37pm] manga_talk [akemi_art] Hello all, I just published an article on my blog Myth and Manga about the Hero's Journey story structure when applied to Yaoi/Shonen Ai manga. The full article is about 3 pages long and I didn't want to post it in full here and take up all the screen space. :D So below is an excerpt. It uses the manga Wild Rock as an example and therefore there are spoilers. ## My curiosity about the validity of the Hero's Journey when placed in another culture's setting prompted me to apply it to a tightly focused sub-genre that is mainly written by Japanese women for women. How does Joseph Campbell’s the Hero’s Journey, a story structure supposedly inherent to all cultures around the world, apply to the yaoi/shonen-ai genre? As a test I've taken Wild Rock, a yaoi/shonen-ai manga, and applied the structure of the Hero's Journey to it. My results surprise me....click 2 comments|post comment

This Thurs! Beyond the Strip: Inside the World of Comics, Manga, & Graphic Novels [19 Aug 2008|11:19pm] tonysalvaggio I forgot to post this earlier, Hope to see some friends for some great coffee and conversation! Media Advisory Areas of Interest: Books, Features, Calendars The Writers' League of Texas Presents Beyond the Strip: Inside the World of Comics, Manga, & Graphic Novels Date: Thursday, Aug. 21 Time: 7:30 pm Location: Spiderhouse, 2908 Fruth, Austin Admission: Free For more information: Contact the Writers' League of Texas, 512-499-8914 or wlt@writersleague.org One of the hottest areas in publishing is comics, graphic novels, and manga. Paul Benjamin heads up a panel of writers and artists in the field to offer an insider's look at the popular art form and the creative process. Panelists include Scott Kolins, Alan Porter, Tony Salvaggio, and Matt Sturges, and "Geeks With Books" columnist Rick Klaw will moderate. This event is open to the media. Media Contact: Cyndi Hughes, Executive Director, 512-499-8914 or Cyndi@writersleague.org About the Panelists: Paul Benjamin is a writer, editor, and video game producer whose Tokyopop manga series, Pantheon High, debuted at New York Comic Con 2007. Paul has developed comics-to-film projects for Hollywood, produced video games, edited graphic novels for Humanoids/DC Comics, and is currently writing Marvel Adventures Hulk. He's also producing video games for Austin-based Amaze Entertainment. Tony Salvaggio has been an almost life-long fan of anime and manga. He has worked as an artist, animator, and designer in the video games industry. He is currently co-writing Psy-Comm (an original graphic novel series for Tokyopop) as well as the anime/manga influenced story "Clockwerx" (for Humanoids Publishing). As a freelance journalist, Tony has penned the column "Calling Manga Island" for Comic Book Resources, and worked on various video game and manga related writing projects. When he isn't playing with his band Deserts of Mars, he regularly hosts movies and events related to martial arts, sci-fi, and horror from the East in Austin. He is fueled by music, coffee, Big Red, video games, and his passion for all things anime and manga is only excelled by his quest to become King of the Monsters. Alan Porter, writer and pop-culture historian, writes about comics as well as writing a few himself. His current project is God Shop for Tokyopop (coming later this year), and his book on the history of James Bond in comics will be in stores in October. He also writes promotional comic books for a variety of companies. Matt Sturges writes several books for DC Comics, including House of Mystery, Blue Beetle, and the Eisner-nominated Jack of Fables (with Bill Willingham). His first novel, Midwinter, will be published by Pyr Books in 2009. Matthew lives in Austin with his wife and their two daughters. Scott Kolins was raised in central Wisconsin. After high school and one year of college, Scott attended the prestigious Joe Kubert School of Cartoon Art and Graphic Design and has studied art and the craft of comics under: Dennis Jensen, Bart Sears & Kim DeMulder. He has been a freelance artist for 18 years working with: Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Malibu Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, Valiant Entertainment, Wizard Entertainment, Random House Publishing & Lucas film. For the past five years Scott has been under contract to either DC Comics or Marvel Comics and has worked regularly on titles such as: The Flash, The Avengers, Green Lantern, Superman-Batman, Wonder Woman, Marvel Team-Up, Thor, and Omega Flight. He is currently under Exclusive Contract with DC Comics working on Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge and will next join the Superman team for their next story in Action Comics. Scott moved to Austin two years ago with his wife Kim, three children, and dog. # # # The Writers' League of Texas is a nonprofit professional organization whose primary purpose is to provide a forum for information, support, and sharing among writers, to help its 1,500 members throughout the United States improve and market their writing skills, and to promote the interests of writers and the writing community. Among the League's signature initiatives are the annual Writers' League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference, Poetry Out Loud, Project WISE, and the Sul Ross Writing Academy, along with ongoing workshops and classes. For more, visit the League's Web site at www.writersleague.org post comment

RPG/Drizzt/Forgotten Realms rambling, part the second [19 Aug 2008|10:23pm] telophase More random rambling on my recent RPG reading. Part the first, for context. ( CORONATED is NOT A WORD! ) 44 comments|post comment

*bites hand while screaming* [19 Aug 2008|09:40pm] arletta NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMGSOMEBODYKILLIIIIIITTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!! http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/4734/6188thumb2vv4.jpg 18 comments|post comment

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